紫气东来Purple Air from the East (square, II)

A square sheet. An old vine, written in thick strokes of dark ink, coils down from the upper right, its turns firmly checked and pressed. The wisteria hangs in two masses: the upper violet tinged with blue, the lower pale lilac, both with yellow centres, soft and profuse. At the upper left a small grey bird with an orange breast skims past on spread wings, and below it a swallow, black-backed and orange-bellied, forked tail open, darts through the vine. The leaves mix green and ochre, and fine tendrils drift out at the lower left.

The inscription at the lower right reads “Purple Air from the East”. The composition is close to the other square of the same title, with slightly different brushwork, and carries the same wish for good fortune at the door.

此为斗方。老藤以浓墨粗笔写出，自右上盘绕而下，转折处顿挫有力；紫藤花穗分作两簇，上簇紫中带蓝，下簇淡紫，花心点黄，蓬松繁茂。左上灰羽橙胸的小鸟一只张翅斜掠，其下燕子一只墨背橙腹，剪尾展开，穿藤疾飞；藤叶青绿赭黄相杂，细蔓自左下飘出，轻盈有致。

右下题“紫气东来”。与同题斗方构图相近而笔意稍异，同取紫气盈门、吉祥临门之意。